“How could that be?” He shook his head. “Just think of it as having fun, and maybe we can find some common interests.”
She said angrily, "You think this is just a game? Your uncle is more than happy to lead you astray. If you end up doing better than me in my field, will I still have any standing in the family? As a mother, I also need to have something special. Think it over carefully; this is a lifelong matter for your wife."
"Um."
"Hmm what?"
Fang Zidu looked up and smiled brightly at her, "To ensure a harmonious family atmosphere and to maintain my wife's position in the family, I will be careful not to let my talents be too flashy, is that right?"
Xiang Lan was so angry she gritted her teeth, "It's all because of a child's idolization of their mother—"
Forget it, I'll forgive him for how he treated her before. He doesn't seem to understand women very well.
Author's Note: An extra chapter will be added when the comments reach 2,000. Thank you all for your support.
Chapter 44
Fang Zi went to Liu Nanyang's studio in the art district. When he arrived, he was standing at the entrance of the exhibition hall talking to a woman. The woman looked familiar; she was Mia, the owner of the Qionglin Garden restaurant. The atmosphere between the two was a bit strange. They weren't exactly intimate, but they weren't overly polite or distant either. His gaze sharpened slightly, and he immediately connected the woman with Milan, whom he had met by chance on the high-speed train. He smiled slightly.
Mia seemed rather helpless towards Liu Nanyang. After saying a few words, a hint of anger appeared on her face. She turned to leave, but upon seeing Fang Zidu, she paused for a moment, nodded, and then departed.
"You're here?" Liu Nanyang's mood remained unaffected as he greeted him warmly, "Come on, I'll show you around the exhibition hall."
Fang Zi was visiting a place like this for the first time, and it felt very novel, especially the strange and bizarre design works along the way. It was as if this place was an isolated, bizarre world, and once you went deep into it, you felt disconnected from reality.
The framework of the exhibition hall theme has been set up, and several students are discussing how to match colors and arrange lighting. Exhibits are displayed at a few booths.
“This—” Liu Nanyang led him to a small display stand, in the middle of which was just that little black figure.
Something he casually carved for fun was placed so solemnly in the center, under the spotlight, that it certainly felt different. However, that wasn't his purpose for coming today.
“Someone has already offered to buy it,” Liu Nanyang said smugly, “but I refused.”
"Can it still be sold for money?"
“Of course,” he said confidently. “What, are you interested?” He knew that the young couple seemed to be short of money lately, and they were in the same boat.
Fangzi shook his head, "It's alright."
"Aren't you going to ask how much it can sell for?"
"If you don't have the will, it's meaningless."
"So you're coming today?"
"I need your help with something, Uncle." Fang Zidu looked around at the chaotic scene. "Is there a quieter place?"
"Come to my office."
The two went up the stairs along the steel structure next to the exhibition hall; the office was indeed quieter. Liu Nanyang took out two bottles of purified water, one for each of them, unscrewed them, and said, "Go on."
Fangzi took out his phone, pulled up a photo, and showed it to him.
"This is... Xiang Lan?"
“Yes.” He nodded. “This is the first photo she sent me.”
"Great photo!"
The lighting and shadows in the photo are handled very well. It's extremely rare to be able to take such a photo with a phone with a normal resolution. Most importantly, the eyes of the person in the photo are both agile and cunning.
“I want to use it to make something. It’s hard to express the light and shadow in sculpture, and I don’t know much about painting.”
"What's the point of making it?"
"Propose!"
Liu Nanyang said in disbelief, "You didn't even propose, and you still managed to steal our girl away?"
Fang Zidu was a little embarrassed, but still remained calm, "This is to give her a surprise, please keep it a secret, Uncle."
"Of course, romance, I understand." Liu Nanyang patted the armrest of the chair, looking at Fang Zidu. It was a pity that he was also outstanding in other areas, which led him astray. But since he had come to him, he had plenty of ways to bring him back. "Based on your intuition, do you want to paint or sculpt?"
"Drawing is better."
"Then let's draw."
Which one? Traditional Chinese painting? Oil painting? Watercolor? Or something else?
Which one do you want to learn?
"Oil painting?" Fang Zi thought for a moment. "I saw some classmates paint it when I participated in club activities at school, and I thought it was pretty good."
"Then let's do an oil painting!"
"Is there enough time?" He hesitated. There were less than two months left. Was it too late?
"Just draw anything that best expresses your basics," Liu Nanyang said, pulling out a sketchbook and a box of paintbrushes.
Fang Zi glanced at the photo on his phone, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then touched the drawing paper with his hand, picked up his sketching pen, and slowly began to draw.
Liu Nanyang went to do other work, and when he returned a while later, the painting was already on his desk. He picked it up and looked at it for a while. "Haven't you studied it?"
"He hasn't had a professional teacher, but his grandfather knows a little and played with him for a few years. Uncle, is it too late?"
Liu Nanyang felt like crying. The incredibly intricate sketch in his hand, with its various shades of black, white, and gray, constructed a bizarre world of Xiang Lan. The eyes of the person in the drawing seemed to be the sole source of light in the entire picture. It was as if the different textures of wood, glass, cement walls, and human skin were depicted using such a simple method. Even more remarkably, the shadow of the person on the floor had wings.
He believes that none of his current students can pull it off. Why would such talented people go into science?
“There’s still time—” He gritted his teeth, put the painting in his bag, and said, “Come on, I’ll go find you a good teacher.”
Before May Day, the student union planned a series of activities, which were displayed on exhibition boards. As a result, Xue Dao Street was bustling with people.
Xiang Lan stood to the side, watching the crowd gather around her painting, feeling a sense of pride. This was one of the reasons she had remained dedicated to the student council. Although she couldn't participate in art exhibitions yet, having her work viewed like this was a wonderful memory.
"Take a picture of me and my painting." She tossed her phone to Deng Yifan, "while we're both still at our most beautiful."
After she posed and took her picture, Deng Yifan also wanted to take one. The two of them laughed and took several pictures of each other when Li Xingda came over.
"Hey, President—" Deng Yifan greeted, "Help us take a group photo."
Li Xingda walked over, took the phone, adjusted the lighting, pointed the camera at the two of them, looked at Xiang Lan's radiant smile, tapped her face with his finger, focused, and pressed the button. Deng Yifan took the phone, raised an eyebrow, glanced at him, and asked, "Shall we take a picture too?"
"There's no need."
"I'll take a picture of you and the girl later."
Li Xingda fell silent, and Deng Yifan immediately reached out and grabbed his arm, rushing towards Lan, "Girl, take a picture of me and the chairman."
Xiang Lan answered the phone and saw Li Xingda forcefully pull his arm away. She suppressed a laugh and said, "Don't move, or the photo will be blurry."
Li Xingda stopped moving, and Deng Yifan took the opportunity to reach out and hook his neck, stand on tiptoe and kiss him. Li Xingda looked surprised and then angry. Xiang Lan captured this moment and took this photo.
"How was it?" Deng Yifan asked cheerfully as he released Li Xingda.
"It's done."
Li Xingda angrily retorted, "Deng Yifan, you really are—"
"Really what?" She flicked her short hair. "You think you're at a disadvantage if I kiss you? Come on, let me kiss you back, I promise I won't get angry."
He stormed off without mentioning taking a photo with Xiang Lan.
"Coward." Deng Yifan flipped through the photos and saved them with satisfaction.
"Xu Na is here." Xiang Lan looked at Xu Na, who was staring at her from not far away, and whispered, "You flirted with that guy, and she's here to settle the score with you."
"She's a complete idiot, she wouldn't dare," Deng Yifan said dismissively. "Now the president barely talks to her anymore."
"You're the one who's cowardly," Xiang Lan muttered. "I didn't know you were such a timid girl, too scared to even confess your feelings!"
"You—" She didn't dare to say anything, her face showing an embarrassed expression. When Wang Runqiu squeezed in, she said, "When I become a famous director, I'll take care of him."
"hehe--"
"Xiang Lan, Yi Fan, it's been a long time." Xu Na squeezed in with a smile on her face.
Deng Yifan didn't give her a friendly look. Xiang Lan turned around and said, "Let's go, let's go look at other things over there."
Xu Na was left standing there, feeling both embarrassed and pitiful.
Where is Wang Runqiu?
"She didn't get into any schools, but Xu Na did. Seeing that the president is about to elope with her love rival, she looks extremely haggard."
"Hey, you're really lacking in initiative." Xiang Lan looked at Li Xingda, who was talking to his classmates not far away. He had already taken off his coat and was wearing a thin jacket, which made him look even taller and more refined. She whispered, "Let me tell you, in my personal experience, the president is just a pretentious guy. If you do it to him a couple more times, he'll definitely give in."
"Your personal experience can't be applied here."
"Hey, even if he's not happy, you've already slept with him, isn't that a loss?"
Deng Yifan thought for a moment, "It's not a loss."
“So—” Xiang Lan laughed, “but you have to be careful with insurance measures, otherwise I’ll be the same tragedy as the last one.”
The conversation took place without him realizing it. Deng Yifan felt something was off. By the time he realized his biggest secret had been tricked, the girl had already run over and was taking a picture with Li Xingda.
What should I do if my hands are itching to pinch someone?
After Xiang Lan and Li Xingda finished taking photos, they took a group photo with several classmates they got along with from the student union. They then agreed on a time for a pre-graduation dinner and dispersed.
Graduation is a time filled with both melancholy and hope for the future. Some people are afraid to take that step, while others are filled with anticipation.
She wandered around the school's living area by herself, bought a few snacks that she thought were delicious to take back for Fangzi to try. When she got to the back gate of the school, she felt something was wrong, as if someone was following her.
She stopped and looked around. All she saw were unfamiliar, young faces. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then continued walking forward.
After leaving the school's back gate, she walked through the alley and soon arrived at the back gate of the residential area—a new route she had discovered.
The alley was narrow and sparsely populated, with the occasional bicycle passing by. She had to stand close to the wall to avoid it. As she turned to the side, she saw the figure of a young man in the distance, trailing behind her at a distance that wasn't too close. When the man realized she had spotted him, he didn't try to avoid her and quickly walked towards her.
"You are—" Xiang Lan took several steps back, feeling that he looked familiar. After a long while, she remembered that this was Wu Haibo.
"Xiang Lan, this is Wu Haibo." The boy's face was gloomy and anxious. "Let's talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" She looked around; there were few pedestrians, and she couldn't directly call for help and provoke him, so she could only soothe him, "I don't really know you—"
"Can we reach an out-of-court settlement?"
“My family helped me with this, so I need to discuss it with them.”
"No way." Wu Haibo had tried to persuade Fang Zidu several times, but to no avail. "Please, I worked so hard to get my degree. If I can't graduate and find a job because of this, my family will never forgive me, and my life will be ruined. Please help me, for the sake of us being alumni—"
“I really want to help you, but I really don’t understand the legal stuff.”